All members of the Council shall have been residents of the Municipality for at least two continuous years prior to their election, shall be qualified electors of the Municipality, and shall continue to be qualified electors thereof throughout their respective terms of office. Unless otherwise provided in this Charter or by ordinance enacted hereunder, a member of Council shall not hold any other public office, except that of notary public or member of the State or National Guard or a reserve component of the United States. No member of Council shall otherwise be an employee of the Municipality.
Any member of Council who shall cease to possess or who violates any of the qualifications herein provided shall forfeit the office, but failure to maintain such qualifications shall not render void or ineffective any action of Council in which such member has participated.
Any member of Council, who shall be absent from all Council meetings held during a period of 90 consecutive days, or who is absent for a total of one-fourth of the regular meetings during a calendar year, shall be deemed to have forfeited the office and a vacancy shall exist in the Council which shall be filled by the appointment of another person as provided in Section 7 of this Article for the filling of vacancies, except that a vacancy shall not exist and a member of Council shall not forfeit the office if such absence is due to the member's military service for a period exceeding 60 consecutive days. In the event of a member's absence due to military service, the office may be temporarily filled in the manner provided in Section 7 until the member returns from military service or the term of office expires.
Except as provided in the preceding paragraph, the Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members.
(Amended November 2, 2010)